Re-Framing your Membership Program

Membership programs can be tempting income streams.  Why not invite people who believe in your work to join your organization through a paid membership? However, there are some common challenges that might make you regret you ever started one.

• Administrative workload:  Building and maintaining memberships requires dedicated staff and resources.  Even after inspiring someone to join, you still need a solid system to process payments, renewals, and to troubleshoot the common snafus that will occur.  Depending on your database and payment systems, you may be required to do significant and ongoing data entry just to keep people’s information up-to-date. 

• Bang for the buck:  I’ve heard from more than one colleague that the effort doesn’t always feel worth the income generated.  Memberships as a fundraising strategy require a lot of admin for a fraction of the operating budget.  Even membership driven organizations are depending more on corporate sponsorships and major giving.

• Donation killer:  Sometimes members have a sense of “I’ve paid my dues,” once they’ve joined.  That can work if you really are a membership based organization, but for many, the membership is only one part of a bigger fundraising strategy.  If people only give once, you’d better hope they choose your highest membership level.

• Service provider mentality:  Memberships usually include some sort of exchange.  I like to think most members join because they believe in your mission and want to support the work financially. However, once you shift from donation to membership, you are shifting the expectation.  It’s easy to get sidetracked trying to create enriching membership experiences that don’t necessarily serve your mission.  Or, you may find that you are attracting temporary members who only join to get a discount on a class or other cheap service.

What do memberships provide that aren’t immediately obvious?

That said, there can be valuable “ripple” contributions (financial/time/word-of-mouth) members provide.  One of the benefits of a good CRM database is that you can track the different types of relationships a person has with your organization.  It is worth taking the time to analyze.  You should be able to pull reports comparing giving history, volunteerism, and class/event participation of members.  Did members give more money?  Did they volunteer more often than other donors? What trends do you notice and how does this data reframe your view of the membership program?


People who are members also (look by year and aggregate):

• Donated X amount. (Look at size of donation, frequency of donation, and timing of donation)
• X number of members are also recurring donors.
• Volunteered X hours, or helped at X number of events.
• Attended X events and classes
• Purchased X items
• Did those who didn’t renew show different patterns? 

Use your data search to identify the members who are committed…and talk to them! Find out what keeps them coming back.  What led them to donate above their membership?  How did they connect to events, volunteering, etc.?  What do they think the membership program is?...what it could be?

Try contacting former members who didn’t stick around.  Why did they become members?  Why did they leave?  What would have kept them as members? 

Improve the cultivation cycle and expand what membership means

Visit GIFT and Kim Klein’s works to learn more about the Cultivation Cycle

At its best, a membership can provide a sense of connection and belonging. Membership is about building the organization’s “family” so you can all work together toward a shared vision and mission. As people deepen their relationship with your organization and its mission, they are more likely to donate their time, money, and expertise. And don’t be shy about asking program participants and alumni to consider memberships (where appropriate). People who have experienced your organization’s programs can be your strongest supporters and advisers.

• How does your membership program build a sense of belonging/family? 
• Do your members identify themselves with you?  
• Or do they see you as an organization providing a service they want?  

Build your narrative to frame the membership relationship.  Get the point across that “yes, you get some benefits, but with your membership in this work, you are feeding a movement.”  This language also leaves them in the frame of mind that membership is only a step in greater support of time and money (and their own education and connection to others).

What is your cultivation strategy?

Let’s assume people find their ENTRY point with you through a volunteer experience, an event, or perhaps at a class or workshop you offer.  At least a portion of those people sign up for newsletters and decide to deepen their relationship by becoming a member. What is your cultivation strategy once a person has become a member?

• Passive: Newsletter and e-news as part of membership will keep them informed and invited.

• Selective: Continued special invitations to volunteer, attend an event, etc.

• Targeted:  Consider engaging members in stakeholder gatherings.  Offer presentations of current activities by participants, provide simple meals where you ask questions and gather member thoughts on new initiatives or report backs where you share more in-depth on certain programs.  Members only (and probably major donors or foundation contacts) activities that give them a chance to feel part of the mission work and learn more about (and help build) the programs.  This approach also provides you a chance for a bigger financial ask.

Consider expanding your basic membership to include fundraising memberships 

Another option is to expand memberships to serve as a better fundraising tool.  Rebuild the narrative and increase membership levels to reflect growing impact.  Most people will start with a Basic membership, but you can use the higher level memberships as future asks during each renewal.  You will also offer people who believe in your mission an immediate outlet to give more.

• Basic memberships – join the “YourOrg Family” and get to know us better.  

• The next series of memberships can be focused on donor levels your development team thinks best.  Language is focused on how they are supporting aspects of your work (i.e. Sustaining member, etc.). 

• At sign-up, offer the option to become an on-going member. By selecting this option they agree to automatic renewals until they tell you to stop.  Building a pool of dedicated on-going members saves you admin time and offers more consistent income.  They become recurring donors.

• Acknowledge: give these members special acknowledgement. EOY special thank you letter that also reports some specific program outcomes to let them know their membership matters. Make being a member something special.  Consider gear like t-shirts that ID them as a member. It serves as free advertising and helps them show they are “part of the YourOrg family.” This also opens up holiday options – buy a membership for your loved one, includes a tshirt, etc..

• Use reports to filter people by membership levels along with their other activities and passions. You can target specific people for special asks.  The higher membership levels will also help you identify those folks you want to approach with a big ask for a program they are passionate about.

Many of these same approaches and tools work for normal individual donor programs, sometimes better. Remember that if you choose a membership program, you will likely need to manage both donor and member systems somewhat contiguously.  The bottom line is deciding how you want to frame the relationship you build with people who believe in your mission.